During endoscopic procedures, such as gastroscopy, it is necessary to insert medical instruments, such as tubes and scopes, into the mouth of a patient and down into the trachea. When endoscopic procedures are performed, mouthpieces are inserted into the patient's mouth to keep the mouth open and to provide an unobstructed opening therethrough. Medical instruments, such as endoscopes, are typically inserted through the opening in the mouthpiece and down into the trachea of the patient.
Several patents disclose mouthpieces for use in medical procedures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,313 issued Jul. 31, 1990 to Katz et al. entitled "Single-Use Annular Mouthpiece" describes a mouthpiece having an annular bite body surrounded by a compressible portion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,284 issued Dec. 29, 1992 to Jackson entitled "Endoscopic Bite Block" describes an endoscopic bite block having a central opening as well as adjacent auxiliary openings. This mouthpiece is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 283,158 issued Mar. 25, 1986 to Jackson entitled "Endoscopic Bite Block". U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,478 issued Mar. 5, 1985 to Lifton entitled "Medical Instrument Mouth Guard" describes a mouth guard having a central opening which extends into the mouth and a single auxiliary opening.
Although the above-described patents are directed to mouthpieces which can be used in medical procedures, including endoscopic procedures, none of the above-described patents are directed to a mouthpiece which includes structure to permit a supplemental supply of oxygen to the patient. It has been shown that if patients undergoing endoscopic and similar procedures are not provided with a supply of supplemental oxygen, oxygen desaturation occurs. See Crantock et al., Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Vol. 92, pp. 418-420 (1992). When oxygen desaturation occurs, hypoxia, cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia and even death may result. Hence, it is important that a mouthpiece include structure which permits administration of supplemental oxygen to patients on whom endoscopy and similar medical procedures are performed.
A commercially available mouthpiece sold under the name OXYGUARD is formed with an integrally molded tube which extends to the side for connection to an oxygen supply tube. This integrally molded side tube (i.e. permanently attached to the mouthpiece) communicates with two channels in the mouthpiece which direct the oxygen into the nostrils of the patient and two other channels in the mouthpiece which direct oxygen into the mouth of the patient. Hence, the OXYGUARD mouthpiece diffuses the oxygen supply since it directs the oxygen to both the nostrils and the mouth, which is not preferred.
A great majority of patients upon whom endoscopy is performed breath primarily (if not solely) through the mouth during endoscopic procedures. Because the OXYGUARD mouthpiece diffuses oxygen into the nostrils as well as into the mouth, the OXYGUARD mouthpiece is not as effective in delivering oxygen to patients as is desirable. The oxygen supplied to the nostrils is wasted on a majority of patients.
More importantly, the OXYGUARD mouthpiece does not accommodate nasal cannulae which extend from a common oxygen supply tube, which are most commonly used to oxygenate patients prior to endoscopic procedures. Instead, the OXYGUARD mouthpiece can only be used with a single oxygen supply tube, which may or may not be available during endoscopic procedures. As a result, in many situations the OXYGUARD mouthpiece cannot be used. Another drawback associated with the OXYGUARD mouthpiece is that it does not have auxiliary openings which permit the insertion of fingers or auxiliary instruments into the mouth, again limiting its use in many situations.
Therefore, a need still exists to develop a versatile mouthpiece useful in endoscopic procedures, which mouthpiece delivers oxygen directly into the mouth whether the oxygen is supplied by either a pair of conventional nasal cannulae which extend from a common oxygen supply tube or a single oxygen supply tube, so as to reduce hypoxia, cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia and even death. Such a mouthpiece should also be formed with auxiliary openings so as to allow for the insertion of fingers and/or auxiliary instruments into the mouth.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a versatile mouthpiece which allows for the direct supply of oxygen into the mouth, whether the oxygen is supplied through a pair of conventional nostril tubes or an oxygen supply tube.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a mouthpiece which has auxiliary openings which allow for the insertion of fingers and/or instruments into the mouth.